DENVER -- Hikers hoping to summit Lincoln, Democrat and Bross can now bag two of the three summits.

After four years of cooperative efforts, the trail from Kite Lake to Mounts Lincoln and Democrat opened conditionally on June 1. The trail opening was done through the cooperative efforts of the Mosquito Range Heritage Initiative, Colorado Mountain Club, Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, private land owners, the Town of Alma and the U.S. Forest Service-South Park District.

Mounts Lincoln, Democrat, and Bross were closed by private land owners in 2005, citing liability concerns about potentially collapsing open mine shafts and vandalism. Colorado House Bill 1049 extended liability protections of Colorado's Recreational Use Statute to owners of private land where "attractive nuisances" such as abandoned mines exist.

The only approved access route is from the Kite Lake trailhead. "Hikers are being asked to stay on designated routes for those two peaks," Greg Seabloom, field programs manager for the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative, told 7NEWS. Seabloom said the landowners are willing to open up for this year and see how it goes.

The conditional agreement includes continued efforts to educate hikers about potential mountain dangers and the need to respect private property. The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative will have volunteers on the trails talking to hikers about what's open and what's not and the importance of staying on the trail.

"This is a trial opening," emphasizes Cara Doyle, MRHI's executive director. "Continued future legal access to these two popular Park County peaks will hinge on hikers' respect for private property and willingness to stay on the designated and signed trail. If people do not stay on this designated trail, we could lose this privilege." The lease between the Town of Alma and the private land owners can be retracted if hikers stray off the approved route or if private property is vandalized.

Officials said the process has been long and complicated to obtain safe, legal hiking access through the maze of private mining claims on these extremely popular peaks. Located in the Mosquito Range, these three peaks are "Fourteeners," mountains over 14,000 feet. Trail design, environmental assessments, and signage were completed in 2007, followed by 2008 trail construction by several of the access partnership groups. About 3,900 acres of the trail are leased from two private mining claim owners by the Town of Alma. Work will continue in 2009 to further sign and delineate the hiking route.

Many hikers on this route climb to the summits of Lincoln, Democrat, Cameron and Bross. Cameron is also open for the summer of 2009, but there are signs in place telling hikers the summit of Bross is not accessible. Seabloom told 7NEWS, "The multiple landowners have not reached a consensus to open the summit [of Bross] access." Seabloom did not know when that access would open.

Although hiking routes on the slopes of Mount Bross could be opened under the same signage and route conditions, access to the true summit may never be possible. Many of the landowners on Mount Bross cannot be contacted or are unwilling to allow public access. All of the property owners must be in agreement, or legal public access is not possible.

Private landowners caution that with hundreds of mining claims on the mountains there is no way to know where all the tunnels and prospect holes might be. This creates dangerous conditions for hikers who stray from approved trails. Tunnels or "stopes" are so near the surface that plant roots growing on the surface can be seen on the ceiling of the passageway. The potential for a cave-in is very high.

To volunteer as a peak steward or to help with trail building, contact the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative.

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